Ireland’s Fitness Party 2014

Ireland’s Fitness Party 2014 was one of the Health and Fitness events of the year in Dublin. It was organised by the Profi Fitness School .  It was a four day event (24-27 October, 2014) running through the bank holiday weekend. On Friday it was held in Goldstone Fitness in Dublin 12 and from Saturday to Monday it was held in St. Catherine’s Sports Centre in Dublin 8.  It featured great international instructors like Edyta Bartejczuk-Wolak, Kacper Wojcik, Luis Barbudo, Kasia Gasiarowska, Erle Liivak, Luciano Mottola, Heather Gordon, Nadia D'limi and Troy Dureh, just to name a few. The first day was all dedicated to cycling classes and a 2 hour marathon but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go. I did go to the last three days and they were great, full of different classes to try out (rip:60, dance classes, step classes, CrossFit, Reggaeton, circuit classes, H.I.I.T., pump and tone, fight club, different styles of pilates and yoga classes amongst others)

Me at Ireland's Fitness Party 2014

This event also introduced some different new trends in Fitness such as Piloxing (fusion of pilates, dance and boxing), KONGA, crazy jumping (a very fun class on the trampoline).

There was a variety of Exhibitors such as Dublin Holistic Centre, Fitness by Olena, Feel Joy Fitness & Dance Clothing, Smovey, XBody Ireland Ltd. (which really caught my attention as I got to try on the equipment and it is quite a challenging method of exercise using electric muscle stimulation).

There were more than 20 workshops about all things Health & Fitness. My favourites were Dawid Geler lecturing on Bodybuilding and also Oto Winkler’s Advanced Nutrition lecture. I found those workshops very inspiring and they gave me plenty of tips as a Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer.

                No matter what age you were, as a Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer trying to get more ideas or to collect CPD or simply a Fitness enthusiast, you would definitely have found something of interest at this Fitness event. I had great fun there and I am already looking forward to their next event! 

SPORTS AND FITNESS SHOW 2013

First of all, I would like to apologise for not writing in this blog for so long. Busy work (which is not a complaint at all!) mixed with family health problems have been keeping me away from writing.

            Changing the subject… This last weekend has been all about Fitness. The second ever Sports and Fitness Show in Ireland was held on the 2^nd and 3^rd of February 2013 in the RDS in Dublin. On both days, right at the entrance, you got a bag with the Irish Mail with lucozade sport, kellogg’s Nutri-Grain (Crunchy Oat Granola Choc Chip) and McVitie’s Breakfast (porridge oats biscuits with red berries).

            There were a lot of stands that were sports, fitness, nutrition and personal wellbeing related. Some giving free samples like the Vita Coco natural coconut water drink (traditional in Brazil and among world famous celebrities like Madonna. It is highly hydrating and energetic with vitamins and minerals and they showed three different flavours: original, pineapple and orange); Sumo giving samples of their calorie burning refreshments with 2 different flavours (Tropical and Summer fruits) and also The Foods of Athenry had many samples of their gluten free range.

There were many more stands such as the Nutriband (their products are supposed to make performance boosting nutrients be absorbed through the skin by wearing their patches), KT Ireland (treating and preventing sports injuries), Alkaline Healing Water (ionised water company that also had a stand in the previous edition of the Sport and Fitness Show), Aloe Vera Gel, Softball Leinster (promoting sports), International Paintball Group (promoting their various paintball centres in 6 countries), Clare Burren Marathon, White Collar Boxing (with a Boxing ring in the event showing boxing demos) and many more. Chuan Chom Thai Spa and Art of Therapeutic Thai massage giving free massage. Worth mentioning the Adventure West stand, besides their people being really nice and enthusiastic about their services, they had a zorbing ball/OGO right there at the event. There were charity stands for the Irish Paraolympic Athletes and for Autism.

            There were different classes/workshops scheduled and divided throughout the two days of the event. Some of them were:

• Capoeira - Master Mamaozinho was there giving demonstrations of Capoeira (Brazilian Martial Arts that works the whole body) and Frevo (One of many Brazilian type of dance);

• Zumba and Rip 60 (Great and fun popular classes delivered by the profifitness school that is always coming up with great Fitness Conferences with classes and workshops that count with many great Instructors from all over the world) Those two classes were also present in the first Sports and Fitness Show that happened in Dublin in 2011.

• Toe-ga (Great presentation and exercises demonstrations done with your toes to re-educate our feet to perform in a more natural way and shape that improves your technique for running, for instance).

Chi Balls

• Chi Ball class (Instructor Eddie showed us a great relaxing and different class using a Chi Ball created in Australia with Tai Chi, pilates, yoga and traditional Chinese medicine as some of its influences. There are many different Chi Balls each with a different colour and different scent and each one of them is supposed to help you to work a different physical/mind health issue. 

• Kettelbell class (a complete whole body exercise class also delivered by Eddie that showed us not only how to use kettlebells in a fitness class but also how to take it to a different level and make it a really advanced exercise performing 80 repetitions in less than 4 minutes (Eddie did it in 2 minutes and a half).

           

            Overall I would say the classes were very good but I felt there was less of a variety of classes being offered comparing to the other Sports and Fitness Show in 2011. A very positive side was that the classes didn’t run simultaneously like the 2011 event so you could do them all if you wanted. It makes me wonder when the next Sports and Fitness Show in Ireland will be and what other new trends will be shown. I can’t wait!